Historic Home Tour highlights Florence homes

Event set for Saturday, Sunday

The palatial house of Thomas Robinson stands at 529 E. Second St. and will be on the Historic Home Tour this weekend from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
(courtesy)

Florence -- Located on the corner of Second and Crawford streets, the Robinson Mansion has been touted as one of the most handsome residents in this section of Colorado.

This will be one of eight structures on tour this weekend when the Price Pioneer Museum sponsors its fourth annual Historic Home Tour from 1-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday in Florence.

Construction on the Robinson home, which later became known as the Hadley House, was started between March and August 1895, but because of financial woes, Robinson did not complete the home until in July or August 1897.

The mansion consisted of a spacious front hallway with a grand stairway rising from it, along with front and back parlors and a dining room. The rich mantels made from oak and set with heavy beveled plate-glass, according to the archives from the Price Pioneer Museum. The back parlor opened to a large bedroom with oak floors and a natural ash finish. The kitchen, entry and pantries are floored in the same wood, while the wainscoting and finishing are in Mexican pine, stained a light cherry.

Thomas Robinson was active in building of the Florence & Cripple Creek Railroad and other important enterprises, and the promoter of the Florence Electric Street Railway Company, the archives said.

After losing the home to foreclosure, the home eventually ended up being the property of A.I. and Adele Hadley, which they owned until May 1956. After changing hands several more times, Col.

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Jimmie and Myrna Lloyd restored it by stabilizing the foundations, adding a new roof, electrical outlets, plumbing and finishing the garage.

Numerically, the tour begins with the Rose at 1305 W. Third St., where several famous people have lived.

The next one is 105 W. Main St., which is an upstairs apartment.

"It used to be the Knights of Pythias," said curator Roberta Miller. "(Currently), the downstairs renter is the Florence Flower Shop."

Also on the tour is the McCandless House, which is now the Holt Family Funeral Home then the 302 E. Second, the former home of the Christian Science Church, but now is the Victorian Church Inn, a vacation rental, owned by Barry and Barb Brierley.

The next structure is at 505 E. Second St., originally owned by W.E. Mitchell then by a dentist, H.B. Scranton, who lived in the house for many years. Then numerically, the tour continues at the Robinson Mansion at 529 E. Second St.

"(At one time, there was a) mural going up the stairway," Miller said. "It was owned by an opera singer, (but) it had been painted over."

An artist planning to restore it died before he could restore it back to its original state, she said.

The next home on the tour will be at 430 E. Third St., also known as the Kincaid House. Last, but not least is the McConnell House at 114 W. Third St., where one of the McConnell sisters worked as a teacher while the other sister worked in the Brothers Store. When they died, they left their house to the Presbyterian Church, but after several years, the church sold it to a private buyer.Tickets are $15 per person or $25 per couple, which are available at the Price Pioneer Museum at 100 E. Front St., Fox Den at 123 W. Main St. and the Florence Chamber of Commerce at 117 S. Pikes Peak Ave. The proceeds from the home tour will benefit the museum. For more information, call 784-1904.

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